Friedrich Schringenrudder's Foppish Neckwear

RAY: This puzzler was sent in almost six years ago, by someone named Patrick Mooney. But, it took me six years to mess around and sufficiently obfuscate it to get it to the point where it was usable.

Somewhere around 1912 or 1913, aviation began to really catch on in Europe. It didn't become popular earlier... because there were no planes. But, it was fortunate that it did catch on when it did because they were going to need all those planes and pilots for World War I. Now, the legend goes that it was around that time that the soon-to-be-famous pilot Friedrich Schringenrudder started wearing a very long silk scarf that the lovely Fraulein BlÃƒÂ¼cher had made for him. Now, Friedrich had long been know for his foppish flying duds and was a popular figure at the local gasthaus.

But as stylish as it was, that long scarf was not worn for fashion reasons. So the question is, why did Friedrich wear that scarf and why was it so long?